First WikiLeaks Revolution?

[ruckman101]

That whole Tunisia thing. Been hearing much about it? Whadda ya know?

Yep, a revolution. They threw the bums out. What a wet dream for so many. Who hasn't heard a political discussion conclude with someone declaring adamantly, "We just need to throw every single one of the bums out!" or a variation on a similar theme.

Tunisian Prez of 23 years announced a mere ten days ago he was dissolving the government and on the same day skedaddled out of country to Saudi Arabia.

The true catalyst was the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi. He set himself on fire. He had been stripped of all dignity. WikiLeaks played a secondary role. Prez made sure internet content was extremely filtered. The clouds of revolution gathered and change is raining.

Did you hear about it? Probably not. Maybe an aside mention of turmoil and rioting. "A bit of trouble down in Tunisia today."

Why do you suppose that is? That we hear so little about a populist uprising that has overthrown an oppressive system in place since independence from France in the late fifties. Dude that bailed was Tunisia's second president since the late fifties. The first was declared infirm, and Dude grabbed the reins in the late mid eighties.

Can't be president there if you aren't a Muslim. State sanctioned. Yet you know if this had been an Islamic revolutionary uprising, we'd be hearing about it in our media. Funny that. Nope it was just the folks, tired of it. They threw the bums out.

Not a model to be emulated. Shhhhh.

Amy Goodman devoted an entire show to the populist revolution ongoing in Tunisia recently.

http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2011/1/18

"The protests that led to the overthrow of President Ben Ali gained momentum in December after Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old unemployed university graduate, set himself on fire after police seized his grocery cart, saying he was selling without a permit. He died in early January and quickly became a martyr to the unemployed protesting against poor living conditions."

"WikiLeaks played, at my point of view, a major role in restoring the image of the U.S. within the Arab streets. And people really appreciated the way that the U.S. saw and judged the corruption in place in Tunisia. So today there is a demand for Americans—for America to be present and support this revolution."

I say fat chance. US corporate interests are threatened, as in ability to profit off the labor of the oppressed poor, by this revolution. Airbus and Hewlett-Packard are part of their growth economy, well, they were. No doubt the tip of the iceberg.

Amy's journalistic credentials verge on idolatry for me. The last true journalist. Discredit her if you can. You can't.


neal

[ruckman101]

Get your geek fun on.

Compare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia
to
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... os/ts.html

I especially like the "Disputes - International" tab.
None.

No "Distputes - Internal" tab. Hmmm.

Strikes me that the CIA is behind the intelligence curve on this one, based on their website.

Bloated ineffective government bureaucracy? Outsource it to Xe.


neal

[vdubyah73]

I don't know where you've been but I've been aware of this since before the dude skedaddled. It's kinda rattling the region that such a thing could happen! The guy was back pedaling a week or two ago, making promises of reform and such.

[Amskeptic]

Anywhere that social unrest reaches a critical point, there is a known phenomenom in human psychology. Many people will hold back waiting to see which way the winds are blowing, and they will only jump on board when it is a sure thing. Agitators are originally viewed with suspicion and considered a threat to "order".
But if they prevail, there is a lightening quick shift where the old established order is now the "oppressor".

Do not think that the corporatocracy/plutocracy/oligarchy is not extremely well-aware of this. The best way to keep people from straying from the "established order" is to feed their basest appetites. Capitalism is doing a good job of that. But greed at the top, as in the French Revolution and many many many others, always pushes it too far.

The current statistic for predicting social unrest in a modern capitalist economy is a long-term chronic unemployment rate of 20%. Europe is currently right on target, with unrest in Ireland, Greece, and Britain. Though overall unemployment is not quite 20%, the angry young men demographic has indeed exceeded that trigger point.
ColinWhere'sMySocialSeatbelt?

[ruckman101]

Then Egypt, now Yemen.

neal

[Sylvester]

Then Egypt, now Yemen.

neal

Now Lebanon has a PM backed by Hezbolla, certainly creating an interesting situation in the Middle East.

[glasseye]

Attention-getting, for sure. It would appear that Facebook and Twitter are doing a better job of regime change than Fucktard and Blackwater. =D>

[ruckman101]

All three our allies. We sure did a great job bringing "freedom and democracy" to those countries.

neal

[skin daddio]

goodman had a great week during sundance. all sides seem to trust she can handle the vital stuff immediately without fear of retribution. she is a moderator who can hit 3s early and foul shots down the stretch. in the paint she loves to rub elbows as much as farrah. surely we could lobbibribe somebody like her from the samba. a decent moderator for the '11 revolutions. viva, zzZZzzzz

[Sylvester]

Holy crap, in Gaza the Palestinian Authority Civil Administration office was sacked. Why? Al-Jazeera leaked documents about the PA and Israel have been in cahoots. I see a spread to hit Jordan too. If the radical Muslim sect does not take advantage of all this unrest, it would be a fool as a collective body. Go read the Middle East section of the news, it is getting "HOT" over there, and it will affect US "us".

And Iran finally hung the Iranian-Dutch woman they detained after the 2009 protests. All for protesting presidential election.

[hippiewannabe]

And Iran finally hung the Iranian-Dutch woman they detained after the 2009 protests. All for protesting presidential election.

Hopefully the authoritarian Arab regimes won't learn from the Iranian example and go "all in" for repression, shooting the demonstrators and hanging their leaders. Unfortunately, it seems to be working for them.

If we stay engaged, we can help move our less-than-perfect allies towards democracy, like we did in Taiwan, The Philippines, South Korea, etc. If we just pull the rug out from under them, like we did with the Shah, the results for the people are much worse.

[turk]

Good point. All my liberal friends would seem to disagree. They believe in U.S. non-intervention and letting "legitimate" regimes without U.S. involvement taking hold. Like the one in Iran.

[ruckman101]

The fools! An actual accountable election! Shudder. How,...how,....democratic!


neal

[Amskeptic]

Good point. All my liberal friends would seem to disagree. They believe in U.S. non-intervention and letting "legitimate" regimes without U.S. involvement taking hold. Like the one in Iran.

I don't know if liberal versus conservative is relevant to international relations.
We are a nation, our actions are singular. We have propped up amazing assholes to keep the dollars coming in to our fatcat military/industrial corporations. That is what compromises any action on our part to affect the outcome now. How many Americans are truly informed of our actual behavior overseas?

Had we not propped up the hated Shah of Iran, had we helped the people of Iran, do you think the outcome would have been different? Had we not then propped up the hated Saddam Hussein, do you think Iraq would be in shambles now? Had we not propped up Allende in Argentina, the contras in Nicaragua, the Taliban in Afghanistan . . . . . geeze.
Colin

[turk]

All I can see is our leaders fumbling on Egypt, rather than taking some needed initiative and engagement. If we think this is irrelevant to the stability of the region and common interests, that is foolhardy.